How bad is Flintoff?

A colleague at The Times berates me for describing Andrew Flintoff as England's "worst one-day captain". Notwithstanding that my friend is a Lancashire supporter, he argues that Flintoff is only numerically the worst (ten defeats in 11 matches) and that the problem is with the whole team, which is fair enough, although Flintoff's body language, leadership and strategies have seemed woeful at times this winter. Arguing whether England would have played better this winter under Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss or Basil Brush is only a matter of conjecture.

But who was England's worst one-day captain? Dredging my memories (only back as far as David Gower I'm afraid) and the Cricinfo database, I came up with the following subjective leaderboard from the past 20 years. World Cup success counts heavily, while failure in the biggest tournament counts worse than losing friendlies to Zimbabwe. Do you agree? Click 'comments' below to share your views.

1. Mike Gatting (p37, won 26). Unquestionably England's best one-day captain. Didn't just win the Ashes in 1986-87, he also won the triangular series that winter and should have won the World Cup final nine months later. We won't mention that it was his batting lapse that cost us
2. Graham Gooch (p50, won 24). It came in streaks: won his first four, then lost seven on the trot, won nine in a row on the way to the 1992 World Cup final but lost his last five
3. Michael Vaughan (p50, won 26). Won half his matches against Australia and tied in final of NatWest Series in 2005. Won the same series with South Africa in 2003 and reached the final of the Champions Trophy in 2004. Only needs a good World Cup to become No 1
4. David Gower (played 24, won 10). Beat India, the world champions, 4-1 away in 1984-85
5. Nasser Hussain (p56, won 28). Another one to have a poor World Cup, albeit overshadowed by Zimbabwe politics in 2003. Eleven of the wins were against Zimbabwe. Lost all seven games against Australia
6. Adam Hollioake (p14, won 6). Won first five games as England won the trophy in Sharjah, their only silverware in the period. Lost nine of the next ten
7. Marcus Trescothick (p10, won 5). No consistency but did at least compete in Pakistan
8. Andrew Strauss (p13, won 4). Beaten 5-0 by Sri Lanka but drew with Pakistan
9. Allan Lamb (p4, won 1). Great one-day player, poor captain
10. John Emburey (p4, won 2). Captain in Sharjah
11. Mike Atherton (p43, won 20). No logic. Lost to Zimbabwe 3-0 but beat Australia by the same score in 1997. Horrid World Cup in 1996
12. Norman Gifford (p2, won 0). Captain aged 44 in Sharjah tournament in 1985
13. Graham Thorpe (p3, won 0). Lost three times, heavily, in Sri Lanka
14. Andrew Flintoff (p11, won 1). How on earth did we manage to beat West Indies in the Champions Trophy? Never controlled a game. If he doesn't win one of the next two, I think he should fall below the most hapless, who is...
15. Alec Stewart (p41, won 15). Twice lost six matches in a row and was at the helm during the disastrous home World Cup in 1999 when pay deals seemed more important than winning

Comments

[Humphrey B Bear]

Gday Pat,

Which colleague?

Sounds like Dean. What a knob.

Although you're welcome in my cave to share a honey whenever you want (that's the type from bees mate, before you get any ideas), I do take exception to your back-handed reference to my old mate Basil Brush.

Bazza was actually quite an astute captain when he came out on loan to Bankstown from Durham in '76.

In fact he was considered 'a wily old fox' in the second grade comp.

He couldn't bat or bowl - granted - but by Christ he was fast on his feet in the covers. Drank everyone under the f**ken table too, post-game. Ask Lenny Pascoe.

He has a tactical command of the game like no other Pom aside from Brearley.

Baz would have done a great job for you Poms this tour, if some uppity bastard would've had the forethought to ask him to come along. He's a bloke the whole of England could've got behind - no question.

The ECB share Cricket Australia's biased against non-homosapiens.

I reckon that mongrel Darryl Hair's behind it. He hates everyone who isn't him.

Seeya Pat. Let me know how you're placed for a bet on the Rugby old son.

[Mr A. Nel]

I wish you could take guard on the return crease, so I could stick a 70 mph lightning bolt up your shin McGuinness.

You and Patrick both.

Sniggering cowards.

Come face the heat.

Any net. Any time. You just name it.

I'll show you for questioning Gra-Gra.

[Peter McGuinness]

When you look at the stats, you can't help but acknowledge that they do not lie.

The top three were fighting men.

They projected an expectation of success, and an impassitivity on the field to mistakes.

Body language and outward, demonstrated intent in action, cannot be underestimated.

Novice captains may be excused for not mastering the subtlety.

Ricky was appalling during his nightmare in 05. He learnt well from defeat.

Steve Waugh, Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd were masters. Sides 'pulse' in time to the demeanour of their leaders.

Graeme Smith is a counterpoint example. One cannot merely talk. One must DO.

And then, it is the leader's responsibility to do all that's possible to allow his men to perform their tasks with freedom. They can only do this when the pressure to perform comes from the weight of their own personal expectations.

Great captains, read their team. They know how to balance the 'freedom to perform' factor, with the 'weight of expectation' factor. Different players have different balances.

Smith puts everyone - including himself - under ridiculous pressure by talking up impossible expectations and creating self-defeating animousity, incommensurate with his team's skill-set to capitalise.

Freddie is an apologist for his comrades, who lives in hope that camaraderie alone will ultimately negate shortcomings of intent amd skill. He could hardly have done better in truth, regardless of his shortcomings as a captain.

The Adelaide Test proved he was terribly inept in terms of tactical captaincy. But other than that, he can hardly be blamed for the umwillingness to fight displayed his team-mates.

Inspirational leadership may only go so far when the those being lead are without the fortitude or pride to respond.

Gatts and Gooch. Strong tactically. Understood their own teams. Understood their opposition. Realists. Fighters. Their own men.

Perhaps Freddie - at this point - is simply too much 'one of the lads' and too overwhelmed by the army of support staff, to lead with all of his potential.

Also, it is Australia who've thrashed him after all. They humiliated Smith last year, and his position seems safe.

Give Fred a bit of a break. No one becomes a great captain overnight. Sachin never did. Steve took over 50 Tests. Vaughn may not come back to health. Strauss may not regain confidence. Who else then?

[johnmc]

I forgot that Thorpe ever captained England - wish I could say the same for Flintoff